He says farming machinery has been getting bigger and heavier for years, a trend he hopes to reverse.

"People talk about the holy grail of a driverless tractor, to me that became obsolete about ten years ago.

"What we are looking at is swarms of small, lightweight machines that work together in a cooperative team. So instead of one large tractor you might have six small ones about the size of a ride on lawn mower.

"Everyone is getting bigger and bigger machines... the damage they are doing to the soil is enormous... we are trying to pull out a splinter with a set of fencing pliers, we should be using tweezers."

Mr Bates has linked up with Australian experts to make his robotics ideas a reality.

"Through a chance meeting I realised some of the best robotics research in the world is actually happening in Australia right now.

"We pulled together a research project with the Australian Centre for Field Robotics in Sydney and Queensland University of Technology."

The team have been successful in receiving federal funding to investigate the future of robots in zero till agriculture.

Field trials have taken place and Mr Bates this futuristic idea could be a reality very soon.

"I think in two years we will see this technology operating on Australian farms."